There are millions of recipes and books of freezer recipes if you're looking to actually prepare stuff, but if you're looking to buy stuff, here's what I love to have my freezer loaded with:

Meat - buy ground beef every time Kroger has a coupon. But lots of chicken breasts when on sale. Break the family packs of meat into meal packs in gallon bags before freezing. Only takes a few minutes, and you'll thank yourself when you need 4 breasts only for dinner.
Shredded cheeses - buy bulk and either freeze in smaller bags or store the big bags in the freezer and replenish your fridge bag from there.
Frozen berries - big bags from Costco are great to have on hand
Frozen veggies - we use the stir fry mix a lot, as well as broccoli, spinach, and green beans
Shredded potatoes (hash browns)
Nuts, if you guys eat them
Whole wheat flour keeps better in the freezer
Ice cream!!

Everything I listed will keep for several months in the freezer.

Funny, everything you listed is pretty much exactly what I always stock my freezer with. Except nuts, how do you freeze nuts?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elchorrito

Oh also I forgot to mention I usually buy several gallons of milk at a time (I know you're off, but maybe the boys drink it?), Pour ~1 cup off each gallon before freezing. Once it's thawed, shake it up well and nobody will ever know it was frozen. Honestly, I'm particular about milk and I can't tell which gallon we got fresh from the store and which was frozen/thawed

Oh really?! I knew technically you could freeze milk but I didnt know if it was successful or any good. How long can you keep it in the freezer?

Funny, everything you listed is pretty much exactly what I always stock my freezer with. Except nuts, how do you freeze nuts?

Oh really?! I knew technically you could freeze milk but I didnt know if it was successful or any good. How long can you keep it in the freezer?

Nuts...you just keep them in the freezer lol. There's nothing special about it, but nuts can go rancid (the oils) so they just keep longer in the freezer. If you're going to eat them quickly, don't worry about it. We buy them in 3lb bags at Costco, and keep them in the freezer.

I don't know how long milk will keep - we go through more than 2 gallons a week, so it never keeps long around here. I only have room in my freezer for a couple extra gallons - it just saves me from having to run to the store for milk all the time. I'm sure I've kept it for a month before though, when the freezer was mostly empty and milk was on sale super cheap at Aldi so I bought many gallons.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agla

No idea you could freeze milk either.

For those that freeze butter how does that work out.

Also is there a specific book suggestion about freezer meals.

My favorite freezer meal book is Not Your Mother's Make Ahead and Freeze Cookbook. But if I had a larger family I'd use Fix, Freeze, Feast (I think. I'm rocking DS right now and can't see the title). Also, I have most of Pioneer Woman's cookbooks and the back of each one has a list of recipes that keep well. She does a lot of good freezer recipes.

On the expiration date, I ignore it if frozen. Usually ground beef will say "use or freeze by..." So I assume the same with milk. Honestly, it just doesn't last that long around here so I've never pushed it very hard. I freeze it as soon as I get it home, it stays frozen a month at the very most (only on occasions when I have the freezer space), and it's always gone within a week of thawing.

I will say, be warned - at our house it takes a full day sitting in the kitchen sink to thaw. It is not good if it is half thawed, half slushy. In the summer I get it out in the morning and jiggle it a little if I'm in the area and it's usually ready to go in the fridge that night. In the winter it literally has to sit out overnight so we take it out the night before and watch it all the next day. I never let it get warm, but it takes a LONG time to thaw a gallon of milk.